Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Search This Blog

Type 1 Meets Type A

Today's #DBlogWeek prompt: We think a lot about the physical component of diabetes, but the mental component is just as significant. How does diabetes affect you or your loved one mentally or emotionally? How have you learned to deal with the mental aspect of the condition? Any tips, positive phrases, mantras, or ideas to share on getting out of a diabetes funk? (If you are a caregiver to a person with diabetes, write about yourself or your loved one or both!)

Recently I submitted a "solution" to a NASA collaboration site. NASA often puts out calls for ideas on a variety of topics just to get a mix of potential solutions, and this one had to do with "telehealth tools". I would like to share my solution in response to today's #DBlogWeek prompt about mental health. The mental side of Diabetes is something I really struggle with, and I have a feeling Type A personalities (i.e. astronauts) may have a hard time dealing with it too.

______________________________________________________________

First, a bit of background. I have lived every day since Dec
30, 1998 with Type 1 Diabetes. For 18 years I have balanced the physics of this
disease – ingest carbohydrates, calculate insulin based on food and blood
sugar, test blood sugar 5+ times per day. Gradually devices made some of these
logistics easier – an insulin pump meant less injections and pre-programed
equations, and a continuous glucose monitor meant blood sugar updates every 5
minutes. On the surface it sounds like the disease is straightforward, a simple
dance of eating and replacing the body’s missing insulin. However, Type 1
Diabetes is much more complicated than these simple equations. For example, it
is hard to be spontaneous with Type 1 Diabetes. The combination of
carbohydrates, fat and protein means blood sugars spike at different times
following meals, exercise must be planned hours ahead of time to ensure the
blood sugar won’t go too low, and extra supplies are a must, just in case of
equipment malfunction or failure. Even seemingly unrelated influences like
fluctuations in hormones or sleep patterns can make blood sugars unpredictable.

All of these “outside influences” are difficult to explain
to doctors, and even more difficult for them to understand and consider when
making recommendations to their patients. Not to mention, much of the
difficulty of having such a disease comes more from the mental side than the
physical side. Sure, shots hurt, but facing a life where every carbohydrate
must be counted, every exercise planned, multiple shots a day and finger stick
after finger stick with no days off, no cure in sight, and the ultimate
consequence of death is a bit mentally challenging. Sometimes it’s hard to stay
motivated and vigilant. This is where patient networks and the “patient
perspective” come into play. Diabetics all over the world have joined together
through social media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc) to create what we
have named the “Diabetes Online Community”, lovingly referred to as the DOC. We
voluntarily share our experiences with this disease and support community
members who want to talk to someone other than their doctor – someone who
actually understands what it means to be a Diabetic. From these humble internet
beginnings, the DOC has grown exponentially and even has spawned in-person
conferences to discuss some of the realities of the disease patient to patient.

This model can be applied to NASA and long term space travel
in two ways. First, NASA should place high importance on flying future
astronaut physicians, even on short-duration spaceflights. An endocrinologist
can’t force Type 1 Diabetes on himself in order to connect better with his
patients, but an Aerospace Physician CAN fly in space to gain this perspective.
Just by pure statistics, it will be more likely for a long-duration mission
participant to experience a health problem and having a similar perspective
from your physician is priceless. Second, NASA could implement a sort of
health-related wiki. Voluntarily participating astronauts can record messages
about health issues, how they coped with them, mental aspects, and words of
advice. This wiki, once established, would act similarly to the DOC, a
collection of searchable entries from previous astronauts who experienced
similar issues – a source of comfort and mental support. Type A to type A could
connect and find common ground through narratives written by like-minded
people. The caveat is that NASA would need to allow these entries to be raw and
unfiltered to have the most benefit, and likely only searchable by persons with
the right credentials. Astronauts could even make entries pre or post flight to
record feelings or experiences which may be beneficial to others. It may seem
trivial at this junction in space travel, with so few astronauts actually in
space at one time, but by building this database now it will likely come in
handy when manned space travel is more prevalent.

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This morning I woke up early, the baby monitor was chirping just a few minutes before my alarm was set to go off. Chris graciously rolled out of bed and set out to re-insert Otto's paci. Meanwhile, I pressed my clothes, curled my hair and brewed some coffee - my standard pre-console routine. After a quick breakfast Zara peeped her head over the railing and I heard a gentle "mama" echo down the stairs. It was still dark, but this little one was ready for her daily breakfast of oatmeal and milk in preparation for a fun day at swim lessons and school. As she sat, eating her "oatsss" (as she calls them), I whirled around the kitchen prepping bottles, gathering outfits for school, and ensuring all the swim lesson supplies were set out. It's hard leaving Chris to take care of both kids in the morning (#momguilt) so I try my best to complete as many get-ahead tasks as possible, in hopes his morning goes smoothly.
This morning schedule description may seem mundan…

It's definitely Monday. Otto spit up on my work clothes this morning, I forgot to brush my teeth and I sat down in my car forgetting to clean the layer of sand from the beach yesterday. Whoops. But, it's also MONDAY!!!!! Which means you get a special look behind the proverbial curtain of Mission Control in a series I'm dubbing "Mission Control Monday". We all need a little "boost" (pun intended) at the beginning of the week, so why not get it from the heart of Manned Spaceflight itself - NASA's Mission Control!
This week I am highlighting the little known fact that sometimes, as an ADCO Specialist, I am scheduled to be "On Call". It just so happens I am "on-call" this week! Even though we don't have a sweet 1990's pager, the ADCO on-call is a Specialist with the cumbersome responsibility of having their cell phone strapped to them at all times. Yes, even during the night. Yes, even when you have a 3 month old. Yes, just…

Someday I want to open a box. The box will be neatly wrapped up with an excessive amount of packaging. Its contents will have been years in the making, and even though it won't weigh much, this small box will represent a huge step forward.

As most flight hardware begins, the space-rated closed-loop insulin delivery and monitoring device inside the box will be sterile and stark. But as the batteries whir to life and insulin is placed within, it will become an extra appendage, an external pancreas, for this Type 1 astro-hopeful. Bluetooth connections will be made and doctors, hungry for telemetry from my bionic body, will be at the ready. We will rely on each other - he on I for his very existence, and I on him for my continued existence. Together we will make up one whole, completely functioning, Type 1 Diabetic astronaut.

Admittedly, this dream feels further and further from reality. I have lived with this disease just under 20 years now, and the cure has always been "just 5 …

Nerdy Topics!

Engage!

nerdyapril@gmail.com

Disclaimer

I'm a rocket scientist...I diagnose and treat rocket problems, not medical ones!!! Sometimes I blog about my personal experiences as a person living with Type 1 Diabetes, however, this is not to be taken as medical advice.